This house was completed in mid-2011. We have left the blog up so that others might learn something about building Passive Houses from our process. The house has performed very close to our ene...
Last fall Ian and Lydia Kline moved from Boston to Washington and purchased our house. Brendan and I could not have asked for a more perfect family. We all thought it might be informative to the ...
It is official. We have been certified by the Passive House Institute - US as a Passive House. Because the application and certification occurred before the split between PHIUS and PHI (the mothe...
Last week we signed a contract on the house! The closing will be at the end of the month. The new owners could not be a nicer family! We also received informal notice that the house has passe...
WE’RE ON NPR! Posted from: MD, USA Jessica Gould of WAMU came by the house on Friday and did a piece on the house during Morning Edition today. Here’s the link: http://wamu.org/news/11/06/2...
Posted from: MD, USA Come and see it! 4717 North Chelsea Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814. All work is now completed except for punch list items, and the house is now being shown by Sondra Mulheron,...
HIGHLIGHTS FROM INNSBRUCK: THE 15TH INTERNATIONAL PASSIVE HOUSE CONFERENCE June 2, 2011 I have just returned from the annual Passive House conference in Innsbruck, which included around 1200 a...
There is a lot of talk about net zero energy (NZE) houses. Clearly that is the goal if we are to live sustainably. But it is a difficult goal to achieve, even with a Passive House. The reason i...
COMPARISON OF PROJECTED ENERGY COSTS BETWEEN THIS HOUSE AND A HYPOTHETICAL IDENTICAL HOUSE BUILT TO THE ENERGY STAR STANDARD Posted from: MD, USA During Earth Week we were asked to do presenta...
Posted from: MD, USA A few pictures of the house and an update on what is going on. Porch decking is now installed on front and side porches. Deck framing at west side (to left in this picture)...
PASSIVE HOUSE PLANS AVAILABLE We originally designed the New American Foursquare to serve as a prototype Passive House, one that could be replicated affordably in several sizes and configuration...
Posted from: MD, USA After the building envelope, the key element of any Passive House is its ventilation system. Because the envelope is so tight, fresh air must be brought in mechanically du...
DOE TOURS THE HOUSE Today a group from the Department of Energy came by to see the house. As I was getting ready for their arrival, it occurred to me that what makes this house unique is not jus...
PASSIVE HOUSE FEATURED IN USA TODAY Wendy Koch wrote a nice piece on Passive Houses as the lead article in the Money section of Friday’s USA Today. That’s our project on the cover. Here’s ...
MID ATLANTIC PASSIVE HOUSE ALLIANCE MEETS UP AT THE SITE Last weekend some 15 members of the Mid Atlantic Passive House Alliance (MAPHA) descended upon our project on a very cold and windy day. ...
Energy rater Chris Conway of Conway Green Construction visited the site last week with his blower door fan and infrared imaging camera to perform the first blower door tests of our house. It was...
Posted from: MD, USA The front porch framing just going up in this photo taken yesterday by Terry Hill. Work on the side porch and roof framing, (not shown) is now complete. Work on the west si...
The Outsulation is now being installed on the envelope of the entire project. The Panelwrights crew is battling windy conditions that make installing exterior sheet insulation (Outsulation) and ...
Comments of Al Cobb The Panelwrights crew has completed all panel work and the structure is covered with roofing felt allowing the trades to begin. While we prepare to install the “outsulati...
via nbcwashington.com Washington’s NBC TV 4 covers our Bethesda passive house. Wendy Reiger does a great job of explaining what passive house is and makes the case for why passive house will...